Northampton boss Jim Mallinder hopes that Tom Wood will have a big impact on their season after returning from injury.

The England flanker missed a large chunk of last season due to a troublesome toe injury - sitting out the Six Nations and June tour to South Africa after initially being tipped as a possible captain following the retirement of Lewis Moody.

The 25-year-old played 80 minutes in the Saints' hard-fought 24-19 victory over Gloucester in their Aviva Premiership opener on Saturday and now Mallinder hopes to see his influence grow.

"We have been drip-feeding him back in over the last couple of weeks and he is really pleased," Mallinder said.

"We really missed him last season. We are just being cautious with him and we are pleased he is back and playing well. He is important to the team.

"He has played 80 minutes now and he will want to play next week. We know the potential of Tom Wood and hopefully he can have a big season for us."